Issue

Allied Minds, a Boston-based pre-seed investment firm specializing in early stage university business ventures, has established RF Biocidics, Inc., to develop and commercialize a novel disinfectant and disinfestant technology invented at the University of California???Davis (UC Davis).

The newly formed RF Biocidics is developing a novel “cleantech” approach using radio frequency (RF) heating to eliminate pathogens and insects without the use of dangerous chemicals or radiation. Traditional efforts to disinfect and disinfest food and agricultural products have primarily utilized chemical, heat, or radiation inputs with often undesirable results. These methods have inherent problems: 1) toxins are introduced into the food chain and the environment; 2) permanent changes occur in the sensory and nutritional quality of most produce; and 3) radiation drives the cost of handling higher and holds a negative consumer perception.

RF heating resolves these issues by delivering lethal energy to insects and microbes without disturbing or damaging the host material or leaving behind any molecules. In general, RF heating eliminates surface heating, reducing thermal loads and allowing a food’s quality and nutritional attributes to be maintained. The technology is being developed by Professor Manuel Lagunas-Solar of UC Davis.